Method and apparatus for determining adjacency of wireless device to POS terminal
a wireless device and adjacency technology, applied in the field of wireless point of sale systems, can solve the problems of losing real customers privacy, confusing and inconvenient, and destroying the purpose of wireless systems
Active Publication Date: 2007-08-14
GOOGLE LLC
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AI Technical Summary
Benefits of technology
The present invention is about using devices to read and measure the strength of signals from wireless devices to determine their relative strength. This helps to determine the position of each wireless device in relation to multiple POS terminals, and automatically identifies the closest wireless device to a particular POS terminal for a transaction.
Problems solved by technology
One method of making this association is to have the customer initiate a physical contact with a device at the POS terminal, linking his or her wireless device to the POS terminal (e.g., insert the device into a cradle); this, however, defeats the purpose of a wireless system, since the device is physically connected to the POS terminal.
This suffers the problem that someone else could “hijack” the session by falsely acknowledging that he or she is the customer at POS terminal #3, when in reality he or she may be at POS terminal #2, or worse, outside the store altogether.
When the POS terminal sends the transaction details to the inappropriate device, it is confusing and inconvenient, and the real customer loses privacy.
In addition, all of the customers are inconvenienced by the incessant broadcast queries being received on their wireless devices.
Further, requiring the customer to push an extra button on their wireless device decreases the transparency of the wireless payment process.
Method used
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[0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary installation of a system in accordance with the present invention. The example illustrated in FIG. 1 shows a three-aisle configuration (aisles A, B, and C) in which are situated POS terminals TA, TB, and TC, respectively. Each POS terminal includes a processor, e.g., a computer, that ties into a central processor where POS data is stored (the use of local and central processing systems of this kind with POS systems is very well known; thus, the local and central processor are not illustrated herein). Such a configuration is well-known in the art. The layout illustrated in FIG. 1 is typical of a retail implementation of the present invention. It is understood that the present invention is not limited to a retail implementation (i.e., it can be utilized anywhere in which identification of the proximity of a wireless device to a reference point is desired) and that fewer or greater numbers of POS terminals may be used and still ...
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One or more stationary wireless readers are used to determine the relative strength of calibration signals sent from fixed locations adjacent to POS terminals. Then, the signal strength of signals being transmitted by wireless devices within range of the one or more wireless readers is evaluated to determine the relative position of each wireless device to the POS terminals. This allows an operator of the POS system to determine the proximity of each wireless device relative to the POS terminals.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates to wireless point of sale systems and, more particularly, to wireless payment systems used in connection with point of sale terminals.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Wireless payment systems (also known as “mobile commerce systems”) promise to become ubiquitous as enabling wireless devices such as cellular phones and PDAs proliferate the consumer market. Multiple companies are vying for a market share of the wireless payment market, competing with respect to standards and implementations.[0005]Typically, a vendor will set up one or more point of sale terminals (POS terminal) in a vendor location and configure the POS terminals to communicate with the wireless devices of customers visiting the vendor location. The vendor, when choosing to communicate with a customer's wireless device via a POS terminal, must be able to associate the correct device with a particular transaction being pe...
Claims
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IPC IPC(8): H04B7/00H04W4/021H04W4/02
CPCH04W4/02H04L67/18H04W4/021H04L67/52
InventorHALCROW, MICHAEL A.HALLYN, SERGE E.
OwnerGOOGLE LLC